The Tablet November 6, 2004

The Responsibilities of a Bishop

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

My eighth anniversary of ordination as a Bishop happened last Sunday, Oct. 31. Yes, I am a "Halloween Bishop," ordained on the eve of All Saints, a day not easy to forget. It was a beautiful fall day with an amazingly blue and cloudless sky, a day on which I was called to a responsibility in the Church which yet I have not fully understood. In my three years as Auxiliary Bishop in Newark, four years as Diocesan Bishop in Camden and now having just completed one year in Brooklyn, the ministry of a bishop has become certainly varied and evermore complex.

Eight years ago, bishops were not facing the sex abuse scandal, which has deeply affected the life of our Church. Although only a certain few priests abused children, because of the perceived lack of proper handling of the sex abuse cases and insufficient efforts to protect young people, the bishops have come under great criticism. The history of this crisis is yet to be written and someday perhaps we might understand better how it occurred and how it might have been avoided, or at least handled in a better way.

The new administrative crises in most dioceses have caused announcements of parish and school consolidations. No bishop's job is easy since these decisions require not only the wisdom of Solomon, but also the patience of Job to implement.

I took refuge in reading the recently published "Directory for the Pastoral Ministry of Bishops" to see what clarification I could bring to my meditation on this important event. Clearly, the triple responsibility of the bishop is to teach, to sanctify and to govern. It is important to judge oneself on how these responsibilities are carried out and I use this occasion of my eighth anniversary to reflect on these responsibilities personally.

I, as Bishop, teach in many different ways. Certainly, through this weekly column, through homilies and other talks that I seem to constantly be giving. I have been told by some priests that they enjoy my liturgies because they start on time and the homilies are short. I hope they are also good in their content for what they teach.

A bishop must also sanctify the flock entrusted to his care. I see this responsibility carried out through the celebration of the Eucharist in the parishes of the Diocese, the praying daily for the people of the Diocese. The administration of the Sacrament of Confirmation is another wonderful opportunity to sanctify God's young people and bring the Holy Spirit to them. Certainly, the responsibility of calling young men to Orders and witnessing religious professions are other peak moments in the task of sanctification.

The governance of a diocese at times can be overwhelming and make tremendous demands on the time in the life of a bishop; however, through the use of good organizational skills and sufficient delegation, the governing role of a bishop is something that can be shared and effectively accomplished without precluding the bishop from exercising the other two more critical and important roles of teaching and sanctifying.

In the last several months before the national election (this article was written before Election Day) there has been extensive criticism of the bishops in the United States for perceived intervention in the election process. I do not think this is the case; however, when I looked at the "Directory for the Pastoral Ministry of Bishops" and the section entitled "The Bishop and Public Authorities," it certainly became clear that the bishops do have a responsibility, as the directory says, "… for the common good of society and requires the bishop to maintain direct and indirect relations with civil, political, socio-economic, military and other authorities." The directory goes on to say "the bishop must be ready to commend worthy efforts and genuine successes in the public arena, he should be equally ready to condemn every public offense against God's law and against human dignity, taking care never to give the community the lest impression that he is meddling in affairs outside his competence or supporting partisan interests." Obviously, this is another difficult task assigned to the ministry of the bishop---how to teach clearly and remain impartial while at the same time giving good moral direction.

Whatever the outcome of the national election, which most probably has been determined by this reading, there is much work before us as a nation in reconciling and working together for the common good. Whatever the outcome and whoever is the President and whomever he chooses as his Cabinet, the Church must be ready to engage in the public forum issues of moral context that have a wide range of topics. Unfortunately, this is a responsibility the bishop cannot shirk, but it is also a responsibility that primarily belongs to a lay faithful who must influence their society based on gospel values.

As we put out into the deep with our presidential administration, pray with me that we will accomplish an evangelization of our culture for the betterment of the common good.